Kelly Rowland talks meeting Meghan Markle and making Halloween magic
After partying with Meghan Markle during the "Renaissance" tour, the singer spoke to theGrio during a family Halloween event.
Kelly Rowland has been on the move.
Last month, the singer made headlines when she attended Beyoncé’s “Renaissance Tour” on Sept. 4, sparkling alongside fellow moms Kerry Washington and the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle.
During a WaterWipes event on Saturday, Rowland reflected on meeting Markle for the first time. She told Hello! magazine. “It was just nice being there with other great women and being able to just simply talk.”
The Destiny’s Child alum added, “I don’t know what people expect to see or to know, but she just felt very cool and very down to earth. She is very warm.”
Rowland also described the Duchess of Sussex as having a certain air of regality she suspects was there long before Markle was ever a royal.
“She was royal before she was in that family,” she said. “I think that we are royalty before anything. And we have to hold ourselves in that regard as humans, as people.”
The busy mother of two was at the event to promote WaterWipes’ upcoming “Hallowclean” activation. Rowland told theGrio the baby wipes brand intends to place Hallowclean hand wipe stations in 10 cities throughout the country, including Dallas, Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City on Halloween night, where families can make use of them as they enjoy trick-or-treating.
Rowland got involved because, as the mother of two young boys, Titan (8) and Noah (2), whom she shares with her husband, Tim Witherspoon, she knows firsthand how messy children can get on the candy-filled, makeup-laden holiday.
“We all know how crazy Halloween night gets for kids when they start digging into the candy halfway through to the next house, getting all messy and sticky. At least that’s what my kids do; maybe I’m just telling myself,” she said through laughter.
A self-care aficionado, Rowland added that she has to stay vigilant, especially as flu and cold season correlate with Halloween revelry.
“As soon as you see them do this,” she said, pantomiming wiping her nose with the back of her hand, “wipe their hand,” she urged.
She explained, “I’m that mom where as soon as they touch something and you’re like, ‘I just saw 500 people touch that,’ I wipe their hand.”
For an extra health boost, Rowland said she does what she can to keep her young ones’ nasal passages clear by using saline spray and loading them up with vitamin C before sending them out in the cool night air.
During Saturday’s event, Rowland and youngest son Noah were getting an early start on Halloween fun. Water Wipes launched its Hallowclean initiative at the Brooklyn Bridge Harvest Festival with a Hallowclean machine that scanned each kid’s hand with its special “mess-detecting” technology before dispensing wipes.
While Noah came dressed as an astronaut on Saturday, Rowland said he’ll dress as a dog this Halloween, while his big brother has decided on LeBron James. No word on what mom will be yet, though she plans to let her sons decide.
“What I want to do this year is definitely allow the kids to dress me up, which, more than likely, Titan will … whether it’s him painting my face or whatever it might be,” she said.
Thinking of Halloweens past, Rowland recalled a year when Titan and his father dressed as father-and-son dinosaurs. Rowland said the memory still nearly sends her in stitches.
“You saw these little tails just shuffling down the sidewalk,” she said, laughing,
”and it made me love my husband even more.”
Rowland enjoys her children’s excitement about the holiday because she remembers how special it was to celebrate her first Halloween. When she was 8 years old, shortly after she and her mother had just moved to Houston, her mother, who worked as a nanny and a housekeeper, could finally afford to dress her up.
“I remember I told her I wanted to be a cowgirl. She went to the thrift store, and she got me a cute little skirt. We found a cute little red bandana, a cowboy hat, and my first pair of cowboy boots,” Rowland recalled, grinning wide.
She added, “I’m sorry I’m smiling so big! You can see all the way in the back of my throat. I was so excited, and I just understood why that night was just so fun for kids. It was a moment for imagination, and you know, being able to see yourself as you know, so many different things.”
The joy she still feels thinking of that experience is part of her motivation for letting her children run free with their wildest ideas. Whether it’s LeBron James or any other costume they dream up, she wants to empower her children’s imaginations and have a lot of fun in the process.
“I think that when you allow yourself to be a child with your kids, they remember those moments the most,” she said. “I think that when you just get lost in having fun with them, they love those moments.”
Kay Wicker is a lifestyle writer for theGrio covering health, wellness, travel, beauty, fashion, and the myriad ways Black people live and enjoy their lives. She has previously created content for magazines, newspapers, and digital brands.
TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. TheGrio’s Black Podcast Network is free too. Download theGrio mobile apps today! Listen to ‘Writing Black’ with Maiysha Kai.
